Purpose
The current study aimed to investigate assault cases involving prehospital emergency care, focusing on safety aspects.
Methods
This single-center, retrospective case-control study reviewed our facility’s physician-staffed medical care, including consecutive assault cases to patients injured by a perpetrator's intentional attack from January 2005 to October 2020. The study relied on our institution’s medical and prehospital emergency care and communication records with the fire department. The patients were divided into two groups, “problem group” and “control group”, based on the viewpoint of operational safety.
Results
Of the 4,957 prehospital emergency care cases during the study period, 65 (1.3%) were identified as assault cases, with 10 in the problem group and 55 in the control group. A multivariate analysis using logistic regression analysis revealed non-penetrating injury (odds ratio [OR]: 6.97, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.37–35.4, P = 0.019) and shorter interval from the request for physician dispatch to contact with the injured person (request-to-contact interval) (OR: 0.762, 95% CI: 0.580–0.996, P = 0.047) as the independent risk factors to predict the problem group.
Conclusion
The attack method was a penetrating mechanism in most of the assault cases. Conversely, cases with non-penetrating injuries or shorter request-to-contact interval may cause problems in prehospital emergency care and therefore require particular attention.